System and method for providing absorbent paper products and packaging therefor having coordinated consumer-specified features

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems by which a consumer may select or specify coordinated features of an absorbent paper product and its packaging, such as a facial tissue or paper towel product, and then receive an absorbent paper product and packaging having the coordinated features selected or specified by the consumer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods forproviding absorbent paper products and packaging therefor havingfeatures selected or otherwise specified by a consumer. In particular,the invention relates to systems and methods which permit a consumer toselect and obtain products having a graphic design which is coordinatedwith a selected graphic design of packaging for the product, and visaversa.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Absorbent paper products, such as facial tissue and paper towelproducts, are commonly provided with a variety of aesthetic andfunctional features. For example, facial tissue products are availablein a number of colors, scents, styles (e.g., 2-ply, 3-ply, with orwithout lotion, etc.), quantities and packaging styles, and may alsoinclude floral or other graphic designs on the individual tissues or thepackaging therefor. In general, however, these features are available inonly a limited number of combinations. For instance, a facial tissuecarton bearing a particular floral design might only be available withscented tissues, or tissues of a particular color, or a specificquantity of tissues. Thus, while a wide variety of aesthetic andfunctional features exist, a consumer must still choose from arelatively limited number of available feature combinations, and selecta particular absorbent paper product whose combination of features mostclosely matches the consumer's preferences or needs.

As recognized by the inventors hereof, what is needed is a means bywhich consumers can individually select the coordinated features theydesire in an absorbent paper product and its packaging, and thenpurchase absorbent paper products in packaging wherein both the productsand packaging have the selected, coordinated features.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve these and other needs in the art, the inventors hereofhave succeeded at designing methods and systems by which a consumer mayselect or specify certain optional, coordinated features of an absorbentpaper product and its packaging, and then receive an absorbent paperproduct in packaging having the very features selected by the consumer.These optional, coordinated features may include, for example, thecolor, scent, size or shape of the product, as well as the graphicdesign of the product. Further, a consumer can preferably provide agraphic design (e.g., including text, photographic images, or othergraphics) together with a purchase order for an absorbent paper productand its packaging, and then receive such a product in packaging, both ofwhich bear the consumer's coordinated, selected graphic design. In thismanner, consumers may purchase custom absorbent paper products whichdepict loved ones, slogans, company logos, sports teams and schedules,etc. These absorbent paper products may also be “made to order,” eitherat the point of purchase or a remote location. In the latter case,consumers may provide information relating to desired product featuresover a communications network, such as a computer or telephony network,which information is then provided to a production machine for producingthe specific product desired by the consumer.

In one form, the invention is a method in which a supplier customizes anabsorbent paper product and customizes a packaging for the absorbentpaper product for a consumer. A plurality of different graphic productdesigns for the absorbent paper product is identified. A plurality ofdifferent graphic package designs for the packaging of the absorbentpaper product is identified. The product designs and the package designsare coordinated. A selected graphic product design and a selectedpackage design coordinated with the selected product design is receivedfrom the consumer via a communications network. Alternatively, aselected graphic package design and a selected product designcoordinated with the selected package design is received from theconsumer via a communications network. The selected, coordinated graphicproduct and package designs are provided to a production machine coupledto the communications network. The production machine is configured toreceive the selected designs provided by the consumer via thecommunications network. The production machine is configured toincorporate the selected graphic product design into a absorbent paperproduct and is configured to incorporate the selected graphic packagedesign into packaging for the absorbent paper product. The customabsorbent paper product embodying the selected graphic product designand having the packaging embodying the selected graphic package designis produced by the production machine. The custom absorbent paperproduct embodying the selected graphic product design and having thepackaging embodying the selected graphic package design is provided tothe consumer.

In another form, the invention is a method in which a supplier providesto a consumer an absorbent paper product and a packaging therefor toorder. The supplier collects information from the consumer through atelephony or computer communications network via a user interface, theinformation relating to a desired product feature of the absorbent paperproduct wherein the desired product feature includes a plurality offirst options and wherein the information collected from the consumeridentifies one of the plurality of first options. The supplier collectsinformation from the consumer through the communications network via auser interface, the information relating to a desired package feature ofthe packaging for the absorbent paper product wherein the desiredpackage feature includes a plurality of second options coordinated withthe consumer identified first option, wherein the information collectedfrom the consumer identifies one of the plurality of second options. Thesupplier receives a purchase order from the consumer for the absorbentpaper product with the packaging wherein the purchase order specifiesthe identified first option and the identified second options. Thesupplier produces the absorbent paper product having the identified oneof the plurality of first options and with the packaging having theidentified one of the plurality of second options. The supplier providesto the consumer the produced absorbent paper product having the firstoption and with the packaging having the identified second option inaccordance with the information collected from the consumer.

In another form, the invention is a system for use with a communicationsnetwork. The system is used by a supplier for producing a customabsorbent paper product and a packaging therefor desired by a consumer.A network interface accessible to the consumer presents information tothe consumer over the communications network, the information relatingto a first option of a first plurality of first options of a productfeature of the absorbent paper product desired by the consumer and asecond option of a second plurality of second graphical options of apackage feature of the packaging for the absorbent paper product. Eachproduct feature has a coordinated package feature or wherein eachpackage feature has a coordinate product feature, the network interfacefor receiving information from the consumer identifying a productfeature and a coordinated package feature selected by the consumer oridentifying a package feature and a coordinated product feature selectedby the consumer. A production machine linked to the communicationsnetwork is configured to receive the information provided by theconsumer via the communications network. The production machine isconfigured to produce custom absorbent paper products including any oneof the first plurality of options of the product feature and configuredto produce packaging for the custom absorbent paper products includingany one of the second plurality of options of the package feature. Theproduction machine produces the custom absorbent paper product with thepackaging as selected by the consumer and in accordance with theinformation such that the produced custom absorbent paper productincludes the selected first option and the packaging for the producedcustom absorbent paper product includes the selected second graphicaloption. A computer server is operatively connected to the productionmachine and the communications network. The computer server isconfigured to receive the information from the consumer via thecommunications network, and to provide the information to the productionmachine.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be in partapparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing a consumerwith an absorbent paper product according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram illustrating another method for providing aconsumer with an absorbent paper product and coordinated packageaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1C illustrates a graphical user interface employing drop lists forseveral optional features of a facial tissue product.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for producing anabsorbent paper product to order according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for customizing anabsorbent paper product using a graphic design received from a consumer.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system and related environment forproducing an absorbent paper product using information provided by aconsumer over a communications network.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation ofthe system of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for producing a customfacial tissue product using the system of FIG. 4.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding featuresthroughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A method for providing a consumer with an absorbent paper productaccording to one preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated inFIG. 1A and designated generally by reference character 100. In onepreferred implementation, the absorbent paper product is a facial tissueproduct. However, as used herein, the phrase “absorbent paper product”shall include, without limitation, facial tissue, toilet tissue, papertowel, napkin, and baby wipe products, irrespective of the actual papercontent (if any) of such products.

Beginning at block 102 of FIG. 1A, the consumer is first provided with alist of options for each of several features of an absorbent paperproduct and packaging. The optional features of the absorbent paperproduct and/or its packaging may include, for example, the individualproduct count (e.g., the number of facial tissues contained in a singlepackage, such as six, twelve, one hundred, etc.), the style of theproduct (e.g., two-ply vs. three-ply, with or without lotion, etc.), thecolor of the product (preferably including single colors, groups ofcolors, multi-colored options, and no color, where applicable), thescent of the product and/or product packaging (preferably including anunscented option in addition to a variety of scents and aromas), thegraphic design of the product and/or product packaging (preferablyincluding several predefined graphic design options, a no graphic designoption, and a graphic design provided by the consumer option), the shapeof the product packaging (e.g., the shape of a facial tissue carton),the color of the product packaging, etc. Thus, with further reference toblock 102, the consumer may be provided with a first list of options fora first feature of the absorbent paper product and/or its packaging(e.g., a list of available product colors) and a second list of optionsfor a second feature of the product and/or its packaging (e.g., a listof available product scents). In fact, the consumer is preferablyprovided options for numerous and as many product and package featuresas possible, including those noted above, thereby allowing the consumerto design a potentially unique combination of such features which meetsthe consumer's individual tastes or needs. Preferably, when one than oneoption is available, the options are coordinated so that the consumerselects a plurality of options which are in some way synchronized,harmonized or otherwise matched in some way, directly or indirectly, sothat the selections are in line with each other.

In one embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 1B, the package graphics andthe product graphics are coordinated and the consumer's choices arelimited to insure coordination. The consumer is presented with theoption to choose coordinated graphics by one of several ways. Forexample, various product designs and package designs are presented tothe consumer at 110. This may include presenting the consumer withvarious categories (e.g., flora, geometric, fauna, or other design).Depending on which category the consumer selects at 112, the consumerwould be presented with a particular patterns in the category (daisies,roses, etc) at 114. The particular patterns presented would becoordinated with the category selected by the consumer at 112. Thus, theconsumer's selection at 116 would result in coordinated graphics for theproduct and the package.

As another example, the consumer may be presented with various packagedesigns (e.g., graphics) at 110. Depending on which package design theconsumer chooses at 118, the consumer would be presented with particular(e.g., pre-selected) choices of product designs (e.g., tissue graphics)at 120 which coordinate with the package design selected at 118. Theparticular products designs presented to the consumer at 120 would be asubset of the entire product designs available and would be selected inadvance as product designs which coordinate with the package designselected at 118. A product design may be in one or more subsetcorresponding to each package design. Each package design would have atleast one product design subset corresponding thereto having coordinatedproduct designs. In one embodiment, only product designs coordinatedwith the package design selected by the consumer at 118 would bepresented at 120. Thus, the consumer's choice at 122 would result incoordinated graphics for the product and the package.

As another example, the consumer may be presented with various productdesigns (e.g., graphics) at 110. Depending on which product design theconsumer chooses at 124, the consumer would be presented with particular(e.g., pre-selected) choices of package designs (e.g., box graphics) at126 which coordinate with the product design selected at 124. Theparticular package designs presented to the consumer at 126 would be asubset of the entire package designs available and would be selected inadvance as package designs which coordinate with the product designselected at 124. A package design may be in one or more subsetcorresponding to each product design. Each product design would have atleast one package design subset corresponding thereto having coordinatedpackage designs. In one embodiment, only package designs coordinatedwith the product design selected by the consumer at 124 would bepresented at 126. Thus, the consumer's choice at 1228 would result incoordinated graphics for the product and the package.

Those skilled in the art will recognize other choices that may bepresented to the consumer at 110 in order to coordinate the packagegraphics and the graphics of the product within the package. Inaddition, the consumer may be presented at any point along the decisionprocess of FIG. 1B with options that relate to details of the product orpackage graphics, such as colors (e.g., primary, secondary, pastel,etc.), location on the product or package (e.g., border, centered,one-sided, two-sided, end panel), size (e.g., small, medium, large,etc.), line width (e.g., small, medium, large, etc.) or other aspects ofthe graphics. For example, if the product is an absorbent paper productsuch as a tissue, one option for tissue graphics may be a border whichcomplements a certain type of package graphics, or visa versa.

The lists of optional product features may be provided to the consumerin block 102 in any suitable manner. For example, they may be presentedto the consumer in printed form, read to the consumer via telephone,etc. In one implementation of the invention for facial tissue products,the lists of optional product features are displayed to the consumer ona computer via a graphical user interface employing drop lists for theoptional product features, as illustrated generally in FIG. 1C. As anexample, of coordinated designs, assume that tissue designs #1 and #3are coordinated with packaging designs #1 and #3. Assume further thattissue design #2 is coordinated with packaging designs #2 and #4. If theconsumer selects tissue design #1, only packaging designs #1 and #3 willappear in the packaging design drop list. If the consumer selects tissuedesign #3, only packaging designs #1 and #3 will appear in the packagingdesign drop list. If the consumer selects tissue design #2, onlypackaging designs #2 and #4 will appear in the packaging design droplist. Similarly, if the consumer packaging design #1, only tissuedesigns #1 and #3 will appear in the tissue design drop list. If theconsumer selects packaging design #3, only tissue designs #1 and #3 willappear in the tissue design drop list. If the consumer selects packagingdesign #2, only tissue design #2 will appear in the tissue design droplist. If the consumer selects packaging design #4, only tissue design #2will appear in the tissue design drop list.

As indicated in block 104 of FIG. 1A, the consumer's selections ofavailable options are preferably received together with a purchase orderfor an absorbent paper product having the specific options selected bythe consumer. This purchase order preferably includes payment or billinginformation, such as a credit card number for the consumer. Theabsorbent paper product is then delivered to the consumer, as indicatedin block 106.

The actual mode of delivery employed in block 106 may take severalforms, including hand-delivery of the product to the consumer at thepoint of purchase, depositing of the product for shipment to theconsumer or to a proxy for the consumer, etc. As apparent to thoseskilled in the art, the mode of delivery will typically depend on themode used for receiving a consumer's selections and purchase order. Forexample, if a consumer's selections and purchase order are received bymail, or over a communications network such as a telephony network or acomputer network (e.g., the Internet), the ordered product may beshipped to the consumer via an overnight or express carrier. In the casewhere a consumer's order is placed in person, such as at a retail orother business establishment, an absorbent paper product having theoptions selected by the consumer may be delivered to the consumeron-the-spot, if available in sufficient time, or subsequently madeavailable to the consumer for pick-up. Of course, any one of these orother delivery modes may be employed for any given transaction withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

In some applications, it may be desirable to preproduce absorbent paperproducts with each possible combination of features so these productsare immediately available for delivery to a consumer, once ordered.However, this will not be practicable in many applications of theinvention, including those where options are offered for numerousproduct features, where a consumer orders a product embodying a graphicdesign provided by the consumer, etc. In these and other situations, itmay be preferably to produce the absorbent paper product on a made toorder basis using the method 200 shown in FIG. 2.

With reference to block 202 of FIG. 2, information is collected from aconsumer relating to one or more coordinated features of an absorbentpaper product and packaging. A purchase order for an absorbent paperproduct and its packaging having the one or more coordinated featuresdesired by the consumer is also received, as indicated in block 204 ofFIG. 2. Then, in block 206, the absorbent paper product and packaginghaving the one or more coordinated features desired by the consumer isproduced in accordance with the information collected from the consumer.As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, this made to orderapproach may be implemented in a retail or other establishment,including in a specialty store specializing in the particular type ofabsorbent paper product and packaging in question, in a (preferablyautomated) kiosk located in a shopping mall or other high traffic area,etc. In this manner, a custom product may be made available to theconsumer in a matter of minutes, or hours. Alternatively, the method 200may be implemented remotely from the consumer, in which case thepurchase order and the information relating to the one or more featuresdesired by the consumer are preferably obtained from the consumer bymail, or through a telephony or computer network.

FIG. 3 illustrates a related method 300 in which a graphic design and apurchase order for an absorbent paper product embodying the graphicdesigns are received from a consumer in block 302. This graphic designmay be, for example, a photograph of someone or something which theconsumer would like to have printed or otherwise applied to facialtissues and/or facial tissue packaging. However, as used herein,“graphic design” shall include, without limitation, computer scannedimages, drawings, photographs, logos, words, phrases and any combinationthereof, as well as single color graphic designs, multi-color (includingblack and white) graphic designs, and any combination thereof. Thegraphic design(s) received from the consumer are then incorporated intoan absorbent paper product and packaging (i.e., the product itselfand/or the packaging therefor) to thereby produce a custom absorbentpaper product and packaging desired by the consumer, as indicated inblock 304. Preferably, the consumer's graphic design is incorporatedinto the product and packaging to the fullest extent possible. Incertain cases, however, the graphic design may exceed the availablespace on the product, or may utilize non-available colors, or may not becoordinated, etc. Under these circumstances, the consumer's graphicdesign may be only partially incorporated into the custom absorbentpaper product. At block 306, the custom absorbent paper product andpackaging embodying the consumer's graphic designs are provided to theconsumer. In at least one preferred embodiment, the custom absorbentpaper product and/or package is provided only to the consumer from whomthe graphical design and purchase order were received.

A preferred system 400 for producing an absorbent paper product based oninformation received from a consumer 402 over a communications network404 is illustrated generally in FIG. 4. As shown therein, the system 400preferably includes a network interface 406 and a production machine408. The network interface is provided to receive information from theconsumer relating to one or more optional features of the absorbentpaper product desired by the consumer 402, and to provide suchinformation to the production machine 408. The network interface mayalso be responsible for processing the consumer's payment or billinginformation, if desired. Upon receiving the information from the networkinterface 406, the production machine 408 produces the custom absorbentpaper product and packaging 410, preferably automatically, as indicatedgenerally in FIG. 4.

In the case where the communications network 404 represents a telephonynetwork over which the consumer 402 may place an order for the customproduct by phone, the network interface 406 is preferably an automatedvoice attendant or interactive voice response (IVR) system.Alternatively, a live attendant or other form of network interface 406may be employed.

FIG. 5 illustrates one preferred implementation of the system 400 ofFIG. 4 when the communications network 404 is a computer network such asthe Internet. As shown in FIG. 5, the network interface 406 ispreferably a computer server (e.g., a Web server hosting a web sitethrough which consumers can place purchase orders). Additionally, theproduction machine 408 preferably includes at least one programmableprinter 510, fragrancer 512, and packager 514. Upon receivinginformation electronically from the computer server 406 identifying thespecific product features desired by a consumer, the production machinemay apply a graphic design selected by the consumer (including a graphicdesign provided by the consumer, as disclosed above) to the customproduct via the printer 510, as well as a scent selected by the consumer(if any) via the fragrancer 512. The custom product, which may includethe individual product as well as packaging therefor, is then assembled(preferably automatically) via the packager 514, which may also labelthe custom product for shipment or other form of delivery to theconsumer.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method 600 for producing a custom facialtissue product using a system of the type shown in FIG. 4. Beginning atblock 602 of FIG. 6, information is received from a consumer over acommunications network which relates to optional features of a customfacial tissue product and packaging desired by the consumer. Theseoptional features may include tissue count, tissue style, tissue color,tissue scent, tissue graphic design, tissue packaging style (e.g.,upright cartons, family size cartons, travel size or pocket packages,etc.), tissue packaging color and tissue packaging graphic design. Inblock 604, the information received in block 602 is provided to aproduction machine. The custom facial tissue product and packaging arethen produced in accordance with the information received from theconsumer and provided to the production machine, as indicated in block606.

As an example, a consumer may select a first graphic design to beembodied on the facial tissues, and a second graphic design to beembodied on packaging for the facial tissues. The consumer may alsoselect a scent for the facial tissues. Thus, upon receiving thisinformation provided by the consumer, the production machine 408 (e.g.,an interfolder) will preferably print the first graphic design selectedby the consumer on a quantity of facial tissues (which quantity may alsobe specified by the consumer) via the printer 510 shown in FIG. 5(preferably along the borders or edges of the facial tissue), as well asprint the second graphic design selected by the consumer on packagingfor the facial tissues (e.g., a facial tissue carton), either via theprinter 510 or, more preferably, an additional printer (including anadditional printer associated with the packager 514). Note that thespecific locations on the facial tissues and the packaging where theselected graphic designs are incorporated, in this example via printing,may be predefined by the system and/or selected by the consumer. Theproduction machine may then apply the selected scent to the facialtissues, the packaging for the facial tissues, or both, via thefragrancer 512. The facial tissues and packaging may then be assembledtogether via the packager 514, and preferably labeled for shipping tothe consumer.

Among other things, the present invention allows for the ordering andproduction of facial tissue products and packaging and other absorbentpaper products having various combinations of features with arecoordinated. For example, a consumer may desire to have graphic designsrelating to his favorite sports team applied to a facial tissue cartonand tissue. In particular, the invention allows a consumer to provideher own design graphic by scanning in pictures and scanning or typing inwords or phrases to be applied to the absorbent paper product. Forexample, a new mother may wish to scan a picture of her baby to beapplied to a facial tissue carton and choose the phrase “It's a Girl!”from a list of predetermined design graphics to be applied to thetissue. The consumer may further select a pink background for thecarton, a pink tissue, and a “baby powder” scent for the tissue. Asanother example, a couple may wish to order pocket-size facial tissuepackages with their names and wedding date printed on the tissues fordistributing to their wedding guests.

When introducing elements of the present invention or the preferredembodiment(s) thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” areintended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms“comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive andmean that there may be additional elements other than the listedelements.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

1. A method in which a supplier provides to a consumer at least one offacial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts and a packaging therefor to order, the method comprising thesupplier: providing a production machine for manufacturing at least oneof facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts; defining a plurality of product features of the at least oneof facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts to be manufactured by the production machine; defining aplurality of package features of the packaging for the at least one offacial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts to be manufactured by the production machine; collectinginformation from the consumer through a telephony or computercommunications network via a user interface, the information relating toat least one of the defined product features of the at least one offacial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts, said product feature including a plurality of first optionsand said information collected from the consumer identifying one of theplurality of first options; collecting information from the consumerthrough the communications network via a user interface, the informationrelating to at least one of the defined package features of thepackaging for the at least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, papertowel, napkin, and baby wipe products, said package feature including aplurality of second options coordinated with the consumer identifiedfirst option, said information collected from the consumer identifyingone of the plurality of second options; receiving a purchase order fromthe consumer for the at least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, papertowel, napkin, and baby wipe products with the packaging, said purchaseorder specifying the identified first option and the identified secondoptions; producing, by the provided production machine, the at least oneof facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts having the identified one of the plurality of first options andwith the packaging having the identified one of the plurality of secondoptions; and providing to the consumer the produced at least one offacial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts having the identified first option and with the packaginghaving the identified second option in accordance with the informationcollected from the consumer.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein theproduced at least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel,napkin, and baby wipe products embodies a graphic product designassociated with the identified first option and the packaging embodies agraphic package design associated with the identified second option. 3.The method of claim 1, said product features and said package featuresbeing organized by categories so that each selected product feature andits coordinated package features are in the same category or so thateach selected package feature and its coordinated product features arein the same category, said consumer selecting a category, and saidconsumer selecting a product feature and a package feature within theselected category whereby the product features and the package featuresof the same category are coordinated so that the product features andthe package features are in some way synchronized, harmonized orotherwise matched in some way, directly or indirectly, so that theproduct features and the package features are in line with each other.4. The method of claim 1, each said product feature being coordinatedwith a pre-selected subset of the plurality of package features and saidconsumer selecting a product feature and selecting a package featurefrom the pre-selected subset of the plurality of package featurescoordinated with the selected product feature whereby the productfeature and the pre-selected subset of the plurality of package featuresare coordinated so that the product feature and the pre-selected subsetof the plurality of package features are in some way synchronized,harmonized or otherwise matched in some way, directly or indirectly, sothat the product feature and the pre-selected subset of the plurality ofpackage features are in line with each other.
 5. The method of claim 1,said each package feature is coordinated with a pre-selected subset ofthe plurality of product features and said consumer selecting a packagefeature and selecting a product feature from the pre-selected subset ofthe plurality of product features coordinated with the selected packagefeature.
 6. The method of claim 1, said at least one of featurecategories, product features and package features being identified tothe consumer, said at least one of one of the categories, one of theproduct features and one of the package features being received from theconsumer, a subset of the received categories, product features andpackage features being identified to the consumer and said one of theidentified subset being received from the consumer.
 7. A system for usewith a communications network, said system being used by a supplier forproducing a at least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel,napkin, and baby wipe products and a packaging therefor desired by aconsumer, said system comprising: a network interface accessible to theconsumer for presenting information to the consumer over thecommunications network, said information relating to a first option of afirst plurality of first options of at least one a plurality of definedproduct features of the at least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue,paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products desired by the consumer anda second option of a second plurality of second graphical options of atleast one of a plurality of defined package features of the packagingfor the at least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel,napkin, and baby wipe products, said each defined product feature havinga defined coordinated package feature or said each defined packagefeature having a defined coordinate product feature, said networkinterface for receiving information from the consumer identifying aproduct feature and a coordinated package feature selected by theconsumer or identifying a package feature and a coordinated productfeature selected by the consumer; a production machine linked to thecommunications network and configured to receive the informationprovided by the consumer via the communications network, said productionmachine configured to produce at least one of facial tissue, toilettissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products including any one ofthe first plurality of options of the identified product feature andconfigured to produce packaging for the at least one of facial tissue,toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products including anyone of the second plurality of options of the identified packagefeature, said production machine producing the at least one of facialtissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products withthe packaging as selected by the consumer and in accordance with saidinformation such that the produced at least one of facial tissue, toilettissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products includes theselected first option and the packaging for the produced at least one offacial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts includes the selected second graphical option; and a computerserver operatively connected to the production machine and thecommunications network, said computer server being configured to receivesaid information from the consumer via the communications network, andto provide said information to the production machine.
 8. The system ofclaim 7 further comprising a purchase order received by the supplierfrom said consumer for a at least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue,paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products embodying the selectedgraphic product design and having packaging embodying the selectedgraphic package design.
 9. The system of claim 7, said products featuresand said package features being organized by categories so that eachselected product feature and its coordinated package features are in thesame category or so that each selected package feature and itscoordinated product features are in the same category and said selectedproduct feature and said selected package feature selected are within aselected category whereby the product features and the package featuresof the same category are coordinated so that the product features andthe package features are in some way synchronized, harmonized orotherwise matched in some way, directly or indirectly, so that theproduct features and the package features are in line with each other.10. The system of claim 7, each said product feature being coordinatedwith a pre-selected subset of the plurality of package features and saidselected package feature being from the pre-selected subset of theplurality of package features coordinated with the selected productfeature whereby the product feature and the pre-selected subset of theplurality of package features are coordinated so that the productfeature and the pre-selected subset of the plurality of package featuresare in some way synchronized, harmonized or otherwise matched in someway, directly or indirectly, so that the product feature and thepre-selected subset of the plurality of package features are in linewith each other.
 11. The system of claim 7, each said package featurebeing coordinated with a pre-selected subset of the plurality of productfeatures and said selected product feature being from the pre-selectedsubset of the plurality of product features coordinated with theselected package feature.
 12. The system of claim 7, said at least oneof feature categories, product features and package features beingidentified to the consumer, said at least one of one of the categories,one of the product features and one of the package features beingreceived from the consumer, a subset of the received categories, productfeatures and package features being identified to the consumer and saidone of the identified subset being received from the consumer.
 13. Amethod in which a supplier provides to a consumer an at least one offacial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts and a packaging therefor to order, the method comprising thesupplier: providing a production machine for manufacturing at least oneof facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts; defining a plurality of product features of the at least oneof facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts to be manufactured by the production machine; defining aplurality of package features of the packaging for the at least one offacial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts to be manufactured by the production machine; collectinginformation from the consumer through a telephony or computercommunications network via a user interface, the information relating toa desired graphic product design of the at least one of facial tissue,toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products; collectinginformation from the consumer through the communications network via auser interface, the information relating to a desired graphic packagedesign of the packaging for the at least one of facial tissue, toilettissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products, said desiredgraphic package design being coordinated with the identified graphicproduct design; receiving a purchase order from the consumer for the atleast one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and babywipe products embodying the selected graphic product design and havingpackaging embodying the selected graphic package design; producing theat least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, andbaby wipe products embodying the selected graphic product design andhaving packaging embodying the selected graphic package design; andproviding to the consumer the produced at least one of facial tissue,toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products embodying theselected graphic product design and having packaging embodying theselected graphic package design in accordance with the informationcollected from the consumer.
 14. A system for use with a communicationsnetwork, said system being used by a supplier for producing a at leastone of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts and a packaging therefor desired by a consumer, said systemcomprising: a network interface accessible to the consumer forpresenting information to the consumer over the communications network,said information relating to a graphic product design of the at leastone of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts desired by the consumer and a graphic package design of thepackaging for the at least one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, papertowel, napkin, and baby wipe products, said each graphic product designhaving a coordinated graphic package design or said each graphic packagedesign having a coordinated graphic product design, said networkinterface receiving information from the consumer identifying a graphicproduct design and a coordinated graphic package design selected by theconsumer or identifying a graphic package design and a coordinatedgraphic product design selected by the consumer; a production machinelinked to the communications network and configured to receive theinformation provided by the consumer via the communications network,said production machine configured to produce at least one of facialtissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe productsembodying the selected graphic product design and configured to producepackaging embodying the selected graphic package design for the at leastone of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipeproducts, said production machine producing the at least one of facialtissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products, withthe packaging as selected by the consumer and in accordance with saidinformation such that the produced at least one of facial tissue, toilettissue, paper towel, napkin, and baby wipe products embodies theselected graphic product design and the packaging for the produced atleast one of facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towel, napkin, and babywipe products embodies the selected graphic package design; and acomputer server operatively connected to the production machine and thecommunications network, said computer server being configured to receivesaid information from the consumer via the communications network, andto provide said information to the production machine.